I’ve recently been writing about the horror of seeing my son in pain. He’s had a cold. This morning, however, my wife and I were awoken bright and early compliments of our son. He was sick. His temperature was above 100 degrees and he was miserable. My wife dutifully comforted and fed him. I, feeling a type of concern in my gut that I normally don’t, got up to do the dishes (as our cooking adventures had left quite the mess). This was the start of the productive morning.
After nursing my son and laying him in his crib for more sleep, my wife found an opportunity in those pre-dawn hours to get some things done! Luckily, I had already done the dishes (and there was a STACK of them!). She tackled the bathroom while I tackled the living room. She re-arranged the bedroom while I cleaned the toilet. We moved our only sofa to do some re-arrangement of ethernet cords, outlets, server and baby rocker (they’re in the same general area) while whistling as we worked. In the end our kitchen and bathroom were clean, our living room was cleaner and more organized, and our bedroom was re-organized. Not a bad way to start a day.
This went on until nearly noon. What could have motivated us to work for so long on something so unexpectedly? Our son. Rather than take the chance that something here was contributing to his sickness or would, perhaps, elongate it, we decided to clean up the whole house. My wife even did all the laundry (sheets, towels, and clothing included) while the other cleaning was going on. Last, but not least, I took a cardboard box and fixed a problem we’ve been having for a while now: snail mail. There’s now a nice and neat solution/organizing center for these items. Plus it keeps me from piling trash on top of that area. Now that the house is in order we’re just hoping our son will get better.